Cargill opens $40 million chicken processing facility in Russia

Cargill officially opened a chicken processing facility at its complex in Efremov, Russia. This $40 million facility, Cargill's first primary chicken processing operation in Russia, will predominantly supply McDonald's restaurants in Russia with Chicken McNuggets as well as other chicken products.

The facility has the capacity to produce 18,000 metric tons annually of high-quality, further-processed chicken products. The Russian complex employs more than 140 local staff.

"Cargill has had a strong business relationship with McDonald's for many years, and when sourcing locally became a key requirement for McDonald's in Russia, we were pleased to be able to work together and help them find a solution," said Jeremy Graves, general manager, Cargill Meats Europe. "Our processing plant and our joint efforts to build a sustainable, local supply chain is yet another example of the ongoing collaboration between our two companies."

As part of Cargill's investment to establish a local chicken supply chain in Russia, the company is developing new supply partnerships with Russian poultry growers to ensure the locally sourced chicken meets quality, food safety and animal welfare requirements.

"The long term goal is that we will source the majority of our chicken in Russia and allow McDonald's consumers to benefit from high quality products produced in country from Russian reared chickens," Graves said.

According to Irina Korshunova, supply chain and QA director, East Division and Russia, McDonalds: "We are pleased that Cargill, as one of the global food industry leaders, is producing chicken products for the consumers of McDonald's products in Russia. From the time we decided to enter the Russian market, we started developing a local producers' network with Cargill. We are confident that the successful partnership between McDonald's and Cargill will continue to thrive with poultry production in Russia."